This year, on February 2nd, 2025 on the 138th annual Groundhog’s Day, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and a celebration took place. According to legend, Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog of which this holiday is named after, either sees his shadow, indicating 6 more weeks of winter, or doesn’t see his shadow, which signifies an early spring.
For many people, including students at OSHS, Groundhog’s Day is a fun, quirky holiday and tradition—especially for kids. Parades, celebrations, and live streams of this event are especially what some OSHS students look back upon favorably. Sophomore Maddie Saraceno says, “I think that Groundhog’s Day is a good holiday for kids—I remember as a kid I used to go around and bang pots and pans to “wake up” the groundhog.” Furthermore, for some kids and people, it is a really neat tradition to remember back on, and celebrate annually. Freshman Karly Schneider notes, “I think that Groundhog’s Day is a sentimental and cool tradition.”
In contradiction, some students at OSHS have begun to become indifferent to or even slightly depressed by this holiday and the news that it brings. Sophomore Jameli Jara-Velez states that Groundhog’s Day is a “Cool concept, but the only reason I know about it is through Tik Tok or something.” On top of this, with the seasonal news that Punxsutawney Phil brings, some students of OSHS can end up feeling depressed or even a bit sad at the news. Freshman Camellia Pugliese expresses, “It kind of gives me seasonal depression.”
On the topic of Phil’s predictions, one element of this holiday that has been under public scrutiny is the inaccuracy of Phil’s predictions. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (N.O.A.A.), the early spring or late winter predictions from Phil, have only been 35% “accurate” over the course of the 138 years that this ceremony has taken place. Because of this, many people, including OSHS students, have begun to question the legitimacy of this event as a whole. Maddie Saraceno said, “I’m not surprised by this inaccuracy. It isn’t scientifically proven and I don’t feel like a shadow on a random day can depict the future.” Though this holiday is focused on the tradition itself, for some it is disappointing to realize the low succession of “correctly” predicting the early spring or late winter agenda.
Due to the inaccuracy of the results of this holiday and the lack of scientific proof of the correctness of Punxsutawney Phil’s predictions, there have been split opinions on this topic. Do the mostly inaccurate predictions overpower the sentiment of this tradition? And, is Groundhog’s Day an unpredictable, silly tradition, or an annual classic?
